Project webpage:

Main funder:

Contact staff at ORC:

Project aims

To analyze the implementation of organic certification systems and to assess all relevant expenditure and transaction costs.

To investigate the main benefits of certification systems for consumers.

To develop and apply economic models that improve risk-based certification systems and allow costs of certification systems to be related to the benefits gained.

To develop recommendations from the research for different groups of stakeholders.

To include stakeholders' views into the project work and to share the project results with them and the public.

ORC's role

ORCs main role is to provide some baseline information on organic certification, to provide data from an UK certification body, to carry out work with UK consumers about knowledge of certification standards and logos.

Project leader and partners

University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart and research partners in several countries